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Melissa Gorga Put Joe Gorga to Work on Her New Boutique: "I Had a Vision"

December 11, 2015, 11:24 AM ET

Melissa Gorga Put Joe Gorga to Work on Her New Boutique: "I Had a Vision"

The #RHONJ fashionista dishes about her new clothing store, Envy.

By
Jocelyn Vena

Melissa Gorga's fashion empire has officially expanded. The Real Housewives of New Jersey mom just opened her new boutique, Envy, and she couldn't be more excited to share her eye for style with the world. Melissa decided to open the boutique, located in Montclair, NJ, after she found success with her HSN jewelry line. "It just felt like the natural next step to open a store and actually have a physical location where I can put styles together and put brands together that I love and be able sell them to the public," she told The Daily Dish. "So it's exciting. I'm a small business owner now, which is kind of crazy. Every time I walk up I go, 'This is crazy. I like this.'"

Melissa outside Envy.

The store is a labor of love for Melissa and husband, Joe, who worked hand in hand putting it all together. "Joe built it out for me. He did such a great job building it out. I mean, we literally turned this place around in six weeks. It was an old hair salon and it needed a lot of work," she said. "And the way it looks now, it's crazy how we were able to turn it around like this. But I had a vision and my husband listened to me and we got it. You know what? I kept teasing him, 'Listen you're under contract. I need you to get to work and I need it to happen faster.' And he would just roll his eyes at me, and I'm like, 'No, I'm serious... you're being paid as a contractor, now move it!"

Not that Melissa left all the heavy lifting to Joe. "I have to say when you walk in there, you definitely feel like I was in the building," she explained. "It definitely has my touch on it. Every single piece in there, I handpicked every brand, every piece. There's nothing in there that I have not picked out myself. I was doing that a lot over the summer. So, I put a lot of time into it and to finally see it all come together is exciting."

In addition to time, she also put in a lot of effort. "I think it seems like it's going to be like, 'Oh my god, this is glamorous. I'm going to open a store. This is going to be so much fun.' But, literally, I have been sweeping. I've had dust all over me. I was changing air filters in the air conditioning," she said. "There's a lot of unglamorous parts about it, too. It's hard work. It's not all fun and games, but when those boxes come in with clothes piled in them I'm like a kid in a candy store."

And customers should expect everything from low-cost looks to high-end styles. "Right now, I have a lot of buy now, wear now. I don't want stuff to sit in your closet. I want you to need an outfit for tonight, you come in and I give it to you and I have it," she said. "There's something for everyone, that was very important for me and having a price range go from $50 on up was very important to me also. So we were able to achieve both of those things. The styles are so great. It feels good in there."